Donald Trump’s executive order, “Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service,” is a masterclass in weaponized euphemism, a chilling declaration that loyalty to ideology now trumps competence, inclusion, and constitutional neutrality in the U.S. federal workforce. This is not a plan to reform hiring—it’s a blueprint for purging dissent, enforcing political conformity, and reengineering the civil service in the image of a single man’s authoritarian delusions.

Let’s start with the lie baked into the title: “restoring merit.” Meritocracy has never been the problem in federal hiring—political interference has. The career civil service exists precisely to provide continuity, nonpartisan expertise, and insulation from the volatile whims of elected officials. What Trump proposes is not merit-based hiring—it’s loyalty screening, cloaked in pseudo-patriotic language about defending the Constitution and “American values,” which, under this administration, have always been euphemisms for obedience to Trump’s personal brand of nationalism, bigotry, and revenge politics.

This order openly targets diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts—falsely equating them with illegal discrimination. It seeks to ban consideration of gender identity, racial equity, and religious plurality in hiring, effectively turning civil service recruitment into a political litmus test where the only “qualified” candidates are those who refuse to acknowledge systemic inequality or the lived realities of marginalized Americans. This is not reform—it’s regression. It’s the state-sponsored erasure of progress masquerading as professionalism.

And let’s be absolutely clear: when this order speaks of prioritizing those “passionate about American ideals,” it doesn’t mean the ideals enshrined in the Bill of Rights or the rule of law—it means ideological loyalty to Trump’s agenda. It means rewriting the very notion of public service so that it excludes anyone who questions executive power, embraces inclusivity, or believes that government should serve all Americans—not just those who worship at the altar of a specific political cult.

The order proposes improving “efficiency,” but don’t be fooled—efficiency here is code for centralizing control and eliminating resistance. Decreasing time-to-hire isn’t about building better systems, it’s about fast-tracking ideologically compliant candidates and cutting corners on vetting anyone who might speak truth to power. “Modern technology” becomes a surveillance tool. “Data analytics” becomes a sorting mechanism to weed out anyone with the wrong politics, the wrong identity, or the wrong values.

What this executive order sets in motion is the slow but intentional hollowing out of the apolitical federal workforce—a long-standing pillar of American democracy. Civil servants are not supposed to be loyal to any one president; they are supposed to be loyal to the law, the people, and the Constitution. This order reverses that relationship, demanding loyalty to the Executive Branch over all else. It is the antithesis of democratic governance.

Trump doesn’t want a federal workforce that serves the nation—he wants one that serves him. One that will follow orders without question, suppress inconvenient truths, enforce discriminatory policies, and carry out politically motivated vendettas against his enemies. This isn’t hiring reform. It’s a soft purge. It’s creating a government that looks more like an arm of authoritarian power than a democratic institution.

If we let this happen, the civil service will no longer be the immune system of our democracy—it will be the disease. This order must not be implemented, normalized, or tolerated. It is a blatant attempt to turn public service into political servitude, and if we don’t fight it, we lose the very idea that government can be of, by, and for the people—not just the people in power.

A Wolf in Merit’s Clothing: How Trump’s Hiring “Reform” Is a Dangerous Purge in Disguise